Grant Writing Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A grant writer discovers that her organization's executive director has asked her to omit a previous grant violation from a funder application. What is the most ethical response?
- Omit the violation as instructed to protect the organization
- Report the violation to the funder and document her objection internally (Correct answer)
- Resign immediately without further action
- Contact the funder anonymously to report the issue
Correct answer: Report the violation to the funder and document her objection internally
Ethical grant writers must disclose material information to funders and document objections to protect both the organization and themselves.
Question 2: Which practice best demonstrates ethical stewardship of grant funds?
- Spending funds before the grant period ends to avoid returning them
- Reallocating budget line items freely without funder notification
- Tracking all expenditures with receipts and reporting them accurately (Correct answer)
- Using grant funds to cover unrelated organizational deficits
Correct answer: Tracking all expenditures with receipts and reporting them accurately
Accurate tracking and reporting of all expenditures is the foundation of ethical grant fund stewardship.
Question 3: A nonprofit's grant writer learns that a board member has a financial interest in a vendor the organization plans to use with grant funds. What should happen?
- Proceed normally since board members are trusted
- Disclose the conflict of interest and recuse the board member from related decisions (Correct answer)
- Replace the vendor without explanation
- Keep the arrangement private to avoid funder scrutiny
Correct answer: Disclose the conflict of interest and recuse the board member from related decisions
Conflicts of interest must be disclosed and the conflicted party must recuse themselves to maintain ethical governance.
Question 4: What does 'mission integrity' mean in the context of grant writing ethics?
- Ensuring all grant proposals are grammatically perfect
- Only pursuing grants that align with the organization's stated purpose (Correct answer)
- Maximizing the number of grants applied for
- Matching the funder's mission even if it differs from the organization's
Correct answer: Only pursuing grants that align with the organization's stated purpose
Mission integrity means only pursuing funding opportunities that genuinely align with the organization's core purpose.
Question 5: A grant writer is asked to report outcomes that have not yet been achieved as if they are already complete. This practice is called:
- Prospective reporting
- Outcome forecasting
- Falsification of records (Correct answer)
- Adaptive management
Correct answer: Falsification of records
Reporting unachieved outcomes as completed is falsification, which is fraudulent and violates grant ethics.
Question 6: When is it ethically permissible to use one grant's funds to match another grant's requirements?
- Never — this is always double-counting
- Only when both funders explicitly permit it and it is disclosed to both (Correct answer)
- Whenever the amounts are small enough that funders won't notice
- Only for federal grants, not private foundations
Correct answer: Only when both funders explicitly permit it and it is disclosed to both
Using the same funds as match for two grants (double-counting) is only permissible if both funders explicitly allow it and both are informed.
Question 7: Which of the following is an example of a 'phantom match' in grant compliance?
- Using volunteer hours as an in-kind match
- Claiming cash match that was never actually contributed (Correct answer)
- Reporting donated supplies at fair market value
- Using federal funds as match for another federal grant
Correct answer: Claiming cash match that was never actually contributed
A phantom match involves claiming matching contributions that do not actually exist, which constitutes fraud.
